is still a pretty active cat for his age, like last night, he was very noisy running around and wanting in then out. Errrrr! He has thinned out quite a bit and is more verbal now. If you come over for a visit and the dogs try to get all of your attention, well you will hear Merlin loud and clear, while he jumps onto the couch to say "I'm here too"!
Next up is Ace who just turned 2 on the 2nd. He just wants all of the love, is quiet and loves to try to crawl onto your lap.
We took a drive the other day and ended up in Cambria. We had to pick up some of our favorite Italilian pretzels, Taralli, from Allocco's Italian bakery. The owners are so friendly. On the way home it started getting cold, especially sitting in the back of a Jeep, so Keaton shared a blanket with Ace.
Dave and I walk back to the Jeep from picking up some burritos and we see Ace with this sweatshirt on and Keaton giggling. Quite funny.
For lunch the other day I had leftover whole wheat pasta noodles and added broccoli, red bell pepper, garlic, drizzled with olive oil and lemon.
For Keaton I made Vegan Yum Yum's "Hurry Up Alfredo" sauce and added Gf pasta noodles and a side of broccoli.
Yesterday I went with a friend to our Farmers Market. It is so busy now with wonderful colors of vegetables, flowers and the smell of all of the fruit! I know all of you out there love the Farmers Market too.
I was so happy to see Santa Barbara Picstachio Company there. These are my favorite pistachio's and the flavored ones have a nice and light flavor, slightly salted and they are organic. You won't find a crusty coated pistacio that's loaded with salt here. These are just perfect and you can order online too! If you purchase some let me know what you think!
I picked up some lovely golden beets at the Market too. I roasted some with olive oil and sea salt.
Once they were done I sliced them up and added them to a salad with red lettuce, kale,spinach and pecans. A good way to sneak in dark leafy greens is to chop them up in small pieces and then add them. I then drizzled a mixture of Blood Orange Balsmic vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, agave syrup(you can use maple syrup or honey) salt and pepper to tastse. I saw a salad like this in The Flying Apron's Gluten Free and Vegan Baking Cookbook. The dressing called for regular balsamic.
I'm looking forward to trying the bread recipe's from theis cookbook. Alot of the recipes call for garbanzo flour which I don't like to use in sweets so I'll be subbing in different flours for those.
For lunch I had lightly sauteed swiss chard, with garlic, yellow bell peppers drizzled with a tahini sauce.
Last but not least you can never have too many gf chocolate chip cookie recipes. I found this recipe from from Eat, drink & Be Vegan
These are soft and yummy! I of course cut down on the sugar from the recipe and only added 2 T. of sugar and for the flours I used 1/2 C. Sorghum flour, 1/4 millet and 1 T. buckwheat flour.
Do you have a favorite GF chocolate chip recipe?
WOW! Love the colors in your salad. I also love Merlin's eyes. Ace is too cute with that sweatshirt on. And I would really love one of those cookies!
ReplyDeletei agree, santa barbara pistaccio co is the best! the hot garlic is my favorite :)
ReplyDeleteAw, Merlin looks like a real sweetie with lots of character. And, you've gotta love the pic of Ace in the hoodie, too cute! Happy B-day to Merlin and Ace.
ReplyDeleteAll your meals look so yummy and healthy! The golden beet salad looks perfectly munch-able; I've got a salad craving by looking at it!
Dor-I'll make some cookies for you when you are up next.
ReplyDeleteDina-A garlic lover too! Aren't all of the flavors really good though?
Rose-We are lucky human parents.
Ciao, I haven't been here for ages, i better put your blog on my blogroll so that I won't miss your posts :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a great Sunday
ciao
Alessandra
this is too adorable!!!
ReplyDeletegosh those cookies- NOM NOM NOM <3
Alessandra- Thanks for coming back and visiting my blog! It's so easy not to visit everyone's blogs all of the time.
ReplyDeleteKelsey-We do love our furry family!
The cookies are great for dunking in non-dairy milk or a hot drink. THey are nice and fluffy!
Aww, so much cuteness! Ace is just precious in that sweatshirt... I wish I could dress up my pup, but she refuses to go out in public when I do. She literally just stops where I left her and flops on the ground, protesting my terrible fashion ideas. Oh well, everyone's a critic.
ReplyDeleteAwesome pics! Ace is just too much in that hoodie! I haven't heard of Santa Barbara pistachios before, I'll have to remember to look for them. :-)
ReplyDeleteMerlin doesn't look a day over 8. i can't believe he's 16, JoLynn - he's so super adorable - i just love his little face. Ace is as cute as ever, too - and now you know you're gonna have to show Cleo in your next post! yay!
ReplyDeletei haven't made the hurry up alfredo in forever - i've forgotten how yummy it is. thanks for the reminder, my friend! your wheaty pasta salad looks lovely and so do Dreena's cookies. never made them before going xgfx, but i'm gonna have to sub in some g-f flours and make them happen, fo 'sho! my favorite xgfx cookies are Allyson's (of Manifest Vegan): http://www.manifestvegan.com/2010/10/chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies-with-dates-gluten-free/ (we sub in walnuts for the dates)!